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(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

W. ROGERS.

FEEDING FINE FUEL. 7 No. 338,105. Patented Mar. 16, 1886. 49

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(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2Q WfROGERS.

FEEDING FINE FUEL.

No. 338,105. Patented Mar. 16, 1886.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM ROGERS, OF NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA, ASSIGNOR TO HIMSELF, AUGUSTUS WVHEATON BURKE, HENRY \VARNER, HENRY GEHL, AND PHILLIP HOELZEL, ALL OF SAME PLACE.

.FEEDING FINE FUEL.

SPEGIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 338,105, dated March 16, 1886.

Application filed July 6, 1885. Serial No. 170,716. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern/.-

Be it known that I, WILLIAM RoGnRs, a citizen of the United States, residing at New Orleans, in the parish of Orleans and State of Louisiana, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Apparatuses for Feeding Fine Fuel-such as rice, cotton-hulls, or sawdustin Steam-Boiler Furnaces, of which the following is a specification.

to My invention consists, first, in the combination, with a fuel-supplying hopper provided with a suitable fuel discharging and spreading or distributing tuyere or pipe, of a steam supplying, superheating, and suction blast-pipe applied partially within the fire-space of the furnace, connected with the steam dome or space of the boiler, doubled or coiled in the firespace, extended out through the furnacewall, and connected with a blast-nozzle,which is below the throat of the hopper, and a distributing tuyere or pipe of the hopper,whereby hulls or sawdust for fuel can be fed from the hopper over the firebed of the furnace by the blast of superheated steam, which steam, while in a superheated state, passes along with the fuel into the fire for aiding combustion.

Second, in a novel tuyere or pipe for discharging and distributing rice or cotton-hulls, sawdust, and the like for fuel to a boiler-furnace, in combination with a steam-blast nozzle, fuel-hopper, and boiler-furnace. The improved tuyere or pipe is made parallel with the front wall of the furnace on one side, so

\ that the flight of the fuel under the action of the suction-blast on one side of the pipe shall be parallel with the front wall or at a right angle to the center line of the boiler, and the other side of said tuyere is for about two-thirds of its length made oblique with respect to said front wall, the remaining portion being parallel therewith. When the front and rear sides of the tuyere or pipe are made parallel along the whole length of the pipe, it is found ,that the fuel spreads too much toward the 5 front of the furnace; but by giving itastraightline discharge on one side of the pipe, and an oblique-line discharge on the other side, and, if necessary, having it flat on bottom and beveled on top, the spread of the fuel is accomplished more in accordance with the requirements of the fire on the firebed of the furnace; and, third, in the combination of the tuyere having a front side parallel with the front wall of the furnace and a rear side oblique to said wall, with a blast-nozzle and a fuel-supplying ,5 5 hopper.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure l is a top view of asteamboiler with my invention applied thereto, the top of furnace-wall being cut away and the tuyere or fuel-distributing pipe being shown in section, while all the other parts are shown in elevation. Fig. 2 is a front view of the boiler, cross-sectional view of the grate, fuel-hopper, and tuyere, and a front elevation of the superheating and steamblast pipes. Fig. 3 is a sectional view of the furnace and side elevation of the boiler, superheating and blast pipes, and fuelhopper. Fig. 4 is a detail vertical sectional view of the tuyere, cut-off gate, blast-11ozzle,and a portion of the superheating and steam pipe; and Fig. 5 is an end elevation of Fig. 4.

A is the wall of the furnace; B, the boiler; (3, boiler-fines; D, fire-grateorfirebed; E, the

tuyere or discharging and distributing pipe set into the side of the furnace-wa1l; G, cutoff gate; H, hopper for receiving the fuel to be supplied to the fire-bed; H, the fuel-chute,

I I I, the pipe for supplying steam, and in which the steam is superheated, this pipe being connected to the steam-dome or steamspace chamber a of the boiler, carried down into the fire-space of the furnace near the front wall, and doubled or coiled by being turned back and carried along the side furnace-wall between'said wall and the boiler-cylinder to near the rear end of boiler, then turned forward and carried to near the front wall, and turned down and carried out through the side wall and connected to a blast-nozzle, I, which is extended into the tuyere below the throat c of the hopper H, as shown.

J is a cock for letting on and cutting ofi the steam, and K a cock for drawing off water of condensation.

The tuyere or pipe E is enlarged at its rear end, 6, and receives and incloses the throat end or tapered discharging end of the hopper, so that the hulls or sawdust or like light fuel passing down through the hopper from a con- I00 ducting-chute, H, fall into it, so as to be under the action of the steam-suction blast produced by the steam supplied under high pressure from the steam-boiler B through the pipeII I and nozzle I said steam being also intensified in its action as a suction-blast fuel-feeder and as a promoter of combustion by being superheated in the part I of the pipe I I I by the flame which circulates about part I of said pipe while the steam is passing from the boiler to the fuel-feeding hopper. This tuyere or pipe E has its rear side, (2, and top d beveled for a greater portion of their length, as shown, while its front side, d, and bottom (I are fiat along their whole length, as shown. Those portions of the rear side and top of the tuyere or pipe E which are not beveled are made parallel, respectively, with the side d and bottom (1 This construction of the tuyere gives a straight-line direction at front and bottom to the light fuel as it is drawn from the hopper by the suction-blast, while at the top and rear side of the tuyere or pipe an oblique direction is given to the fuel, which has the effect of distributing it through the narrow opening d of the tuyerein a thin sheet having the form of a half-dovetail, the flare or obliquity of which is toward the rearof the fire, while the front edge is parallel with and toward the front wall of the furnace, as illustrated by dotted lines in Fig. 1. By having the spread or flare of the sheet only in the direction of the rear of the fire-bed the fuel is distributed where most needed, and is kept from banking up with fuel the front portion of the fire-bed, as experienced with distributers having the form of a full fan instead of a halffan, and with this tuyere the fuel propelled by the steam suction blast will, in leaving the broad narrow opening (1 be aided in spread ing by the natural draft of the chimney, and the highly heated steam mingled with it will, it is thought, aid in promoting combustion above the fire-bed more perfectly than steam passed directly from the boiler outside the the chamber, inasmuch as less heat will be taken from the fire in the decomposition of the superheated or nearly dry steam than ordinary or saturated steam.

The pipe I I I and the blast-nozzle I are of such diameters relatively that the supply of steam will greatly exceed the capacity for its discharge, and thus the pressure of the boiler at the nozzle will be maintained and the initial velocity of the jet for causing suction and speed of the hulls or sawdust as fuel will not be destroyed until the same passes through the opening 01 of the tuyere, and therefore a good vacuum and consequent flow of the light fuel will be insured.

The operation ofthe stcamblast nozzle might probably be improved by providing two, three, or more jet-nibs on a T-head attached to the end of the blast-nozzle I; but in making this change the aggregated cross-sectional area of all the discharge-passages should not be equal to that of the cross-sectional area of the supply-pipe, because the initial velocity of the steam must be maintained until the jets pass through the opening d in order to insure a sufficient vacuum and a good suction and free flow of the hulls, sawdust, or like light fuel into the same.

Instead of using several jets on the same transverse line of the blast-nozzle, two or more jets might be placed longitudinally with the blast-pipe, one discharging slightly in advance of the other. I, however, believe the construction shown will answer better than any other known to me.

My invention renders practical the burning for fuel hundreds of thousands of tons of almost useless cotton and rice seed hulls, as well as sawdust and other light flowing substances, and therefore its utility will be very great in the southern section of the country,where coal and wood are comparatively expensive.

In operation the fireman starts the fire in the furnace in any approved way and with any desirable fuel, then the engineer lowers the gate G and opens the steam-cocks, where- 'upon the hulls or sawdust resting in the hopper and chute are caused by the suction of the steam-blast to discharge through the opening d into the furnace over the fire-bed in thin sheets in the manner illustrated in Fig.1. Then the supply becomes excessive, the gate G is raised and the steam-cocks closed. When the gate is closed, no back blast through the hopper can be experienced, and danger from firein the hopper or chute will be prevented at such times as the feeder may not be in use.

YVhat I claim as my invention, and desire to (1 which is parallel with the front wall of the furnace, a rear side, (1, which is oblique to the side (2", and a beveled top, d, in combination with a steamblast nozzle, I", a steam supplying a-nd'superheating pipe, I I I", a fuelsupplying hopper, a boiler-furnace, and boiler, substantially as and for the purpose described.

3. The combination of the tuyere having a front side parallel with the front wall of the furnace and a rear side oblique to said wall with a blast-nozzle of a fuel-supplying hopper, substantially as and for the purpose de scribed.

WILLIAM ROGERS. Vitnesses:

ANDREW HERO, J12, HENRY GOVAN.

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